Liberated Libya: Al Qaeda Flag Aloft Benghazi's Courthouse

The courthouse in Benghazi, is the iconic seat of the revolt which toppled Qaddafi -- Libya's "(im)moral equivalent" to Egypt's Tahrir Square. During the tumultuous months of Libya's brutal civil war, it was here that rebel forces established a provisional government, and propagandistic media center, crowing to foreign journalists about their "heroic" struggle "for freedom."
However, according to multiple eyewitnesses -- as documented by reporter Sherif Elhelwa,
...one can now see both the Libyan rebel flag and the flag of al Qaeda fluttering atop Benghazi's courthouse. According to one Benghazi resident, Islamists driving brand-new SUVs and waving the black al Qaeda flag drive the city's streets at night shouting, "Islamiya, Islamiya! No East, nor West," a reference to previous worries that the country would be bifurcated between Gaddafi opponents in the east and the pro-Gaddafi elements in the west.
Elhelwa adds these salient details:
Earlier this week, I...(Read Full Post)